David A. Sullivan, HMS associate professor of ophthalmology at Schepens Eye Research Institute, has been named as the 2017 recipient of the Dr. Donald R. Korb Award by the American Optometric Association Contact Lens and Cornea Section.
Sullivan’s research focuses on the interrelationships between sex, sex steroids and dry eye disease, as well as on the impact of ocular surface stress. His investigations have led to the development of potential therapies for two types of dry eye disease: aqueous tear deficiency and evaporative dry eye disease.
The award recognizes innovation and leadership in the field of contact lenses and anterior segment. Sullivan will be honored during an award ceremony in June at the AOA annual meeting and will deliver the annual Korb Lecture, which he titled “Initiating innovation: Development of novel treatments for dry eye disease.”
David Blumenthal, The HMS Samuel O. Their Professor of Medicine, Emeritus, has been named the 2017 recipient of the William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research.
Blumenthal has served the public throughout his career in medicine, health services research and leadership in the domains of health policy, health information technology innovation, and the organization and financing of medical care. His contributions in research and leadership have influenced healthcare management, practice and policy over the past three decades.
The prize, awarded by the Baxter International Foundation and the Association of University Programs in Health Administration, recognizes the contributions of health services researchers who have had a significant impact on the health of the public in one of three primary focus areas: health services management, health policy development and healthcare delivery. The contributions of Blumenthal reflect all three of these areas. He will be presented with the award during the AUPHA annual meeting in June.
Matthew Pecot, HMS assistant professor of neurobiology, is one of six neuroscientists named to receive the 2017 McKnight Scholar Award, which is granted to young scientists who are in the early stages of establishing their own independent laboratories and research careers and who have demonstrated a commitment to neuroscience.
Pecot received the award for his proposal “Defining the transcriptional logic underlying neural network assembly in the Drosophila visual system.”
The six McKnight Scholar Award recipients will each receive $75,000 per year for three years from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience.
Stephen Elledge, the HMS Gregor Mendel Professor of Genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has been selected to receive the 2017 Gruber Genetics Prize. The $500,000 award honors Elledge’s work to discover and characterize the DNA damage-response pathway, a critical mechanism that allows cells to detect DNA damage and initiate self-repair.
The Yale University-based Gruber International Prize Program honors individuals in the fields of cosmology, genetics and neuroscience for groundbreaking work that inspires and enables fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture. Elledge will be presented with the prize this fall.
Susan Redline, the HMS the Peter C. Farrell Professor of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, was named as the recipient of the William C. Dement Academic Achievement Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for exceptional initiative and progress in the areas of sleep education and academic research. She will receive the award at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Boston in June.
Redline also directs the Program in Sleep Medicine Epidemiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research focuses on understanding the risk factors and outcomes of sleep disorders across populations, the role of sleep interventions in improving health and the use of web-based resources to enable exchange and analysis of sleep data.
Photos are available upon request. For more information, please contact Communications Coordinator Corinne Lederhouse at 630-737-9700, ext. 9366, clederhouse@aasmnet.org.
The National Academy of Sciences announced on May 2 the election of 84 new members and 21 foreign associates. Members were elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Four HMS faculty members were elected:
David Ginty, the Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology at HMS
Barbara Kahn, the HMS George Richards Minot Professor of Medicine and vice chair for research strategy at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Rachel Wilson, the Martin Family Professor of Basic Research in the Field of Neurobiology at HMS
Junying Yuan, the Elizabeth D. Hay Professor of Cell Biology at HMS
The National Academy of Sciences is a private non-profit society of distinguished scholars, totaling 2,290 active members and 475 foreign associates. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and—with the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine—provides science, engineering and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
Michael Gimbrone, Jr., the Elsie T. Friedman Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, is the 2017 recipient of the Gold-Headed Cane Award in recognition of long-term contributions to pathology, including meritorious research, outstanding teaching, and general excellence in the field and leadership in pathology.
He presented his award lecture, "Understanding Vascular Endothelium: A Pilgrim's Progress," in April at the American Society for Investigative Pathology Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology.
Gimbrone, who is also the director of the Center for Excellence in Vascular Biology at Brigham and Women's, is credited with groundbreaking work that has transformed the field of vascular biology.
He discovered methods to isolate and culture endothelial cells from human umbilical vein. "These cells have formed the basis for thousands of peer-reviewed papers and revolutionized the study of vascular biology,” said Patricia D'Amore, the Charles L. Schepens Professor of Ophthalmology and director of research at Schepens Eye Research Institute.
